smith



D. L. SMITH.

(No Model.)

BUCKLE.

No. 378,734. Pafiented Feb. 28, 1888.

iTn

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DWIGHT SMITH. F "WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF T0 EARL A. SMITH, or SAME PLACE.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,734, dated February 28, 1888 Application filed January 9, 1888. Serial No. 260,208. (No 'model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DWIGHT L. SMITH, of IVaterbnry, in the county of New Haven and State of I Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Buckles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which to said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a front view of the buckle complete; Fig. 2, a rear view of the same; Fig. 3, the frame detached; Fig. 4, the blank from [5 which the lever is made; Fig. 5, a vertical section on line at of Fig. 1.

Thisinvention relates to an improvementin that class of buckles for garments more commonly used for suspenders, and particularly to that class which consists of a frame the lower bar of which is provided with means for attaching the braces, and in which the engaging device consists of a bearing-plate made as a permanent part of the frame and a lever hinged in the frame so as to impinge upon said bearing-plate and clamp the strap which passes between the said bearing-plate and the jaw of said lever; and the invention consists in the construction, as hereinafter described, and par- 0 ticularly recited in the claim.

The frame is made from a single piece of wire, bent to form the attachinghook B, the two branches extending up and turned to the right and left to form the lower bar, 0, thence turned up, forming the two ends D D, then turned inward, the two ends of the wire coming together to form the top or upper side, E, as seen in Fig. 3, the two ends united in any suitable manner, here represented as by atube inclosing the upper bar-a well'known device.

At corresponding points in each end of the frame the wire is bent inward and returned, to form inward Ushaped projections, the opening of the U outward and in the plane of the frame or parallel therewith. The two legs a b of each inward projection are substantially parallel with each other and parallel with the top of the frame.

F represents the bearingplate, which is made from sheet metal and closed around the ends of the frame above and below the bends, as seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 5.

G represents the lever, which is made from sheet metal. As represented in Fig. 4:, the upper edge of the lever-blank is best made serrated to form teeth, and this edge is turned over to form the jaw cl, (see Fig. 5,) a common construction of lever in this class of buckles. At each end the lever-blank is constructed cc with ears e e, which are closed around one of the legs of the inward projections, say a a, as represented in Figs. 1 and 5, and so that the said legs a form pintles upon which the lever may swing, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 5, and so that in the open position the strap may be introduced between thejaw and bearing-plate. Then the lever, turned to the closed position, will grasp the strap firmly between the jaw and bearing-plate.

A springtongue, H, is provided for the hook, and this may be secured to the frame in any of the well-known methods of so doing. As here represented, it is formed as a part of a narrow sheet-metal plate, I, which is secured to the frame, as represented in Figs. 1 and 2.

Under this construction the lever is hinged as if upon a hinging-bar extending entirely across the frame; but under this construction the said hinging-bar is formed of the same piece of wire of which the frame is made.

I claim- The herein-described buckle, the frame of which is made of a single piece of wire bent to form the attaching hook B, the lower side, 0, two ends, D D, and the upper side, E, the said two ends bent to form inward U- shaped projections opening outward, the said inward projections forming legs a b, combined with the bearing-plate F, secured to the re- 0 spective ends of the frame and parallel with the plane of the frame, and the lever G, made from sheet metal, bent to form the jaw (Z, and

constructed with ears 6, closed around one of the said legs on each end of the frame, the said legs thereby forming pivots upon which the lever will swing, substantially as described.

DWIGHT L. SMITH.

Witnesses:

H. L. SLAUSON, Janus S'rovELL. 

